Discussion Autism: What's your special interest?

[Bibotik470]

After being diagnosed sometime last year, I've been pretty keen on connecting with others on the spectrum to not only better understand myself, but to gain insight on everyone's experience being an autistic person in a positive light. It'd be refreshing to hear, even more so as the general public still has many misconceptions and nasty presumptions on autism as a whole.

So tell me, what are your special interests? What sparked your curiosity so much that you just couldn't resist delving into it further?

(Bonus points for info dumping. I love learning, so don't be shy and feel free to tell me everything!)

 

[Anxieyote]

I obsess over a lot of things! Lately it has been following the weekly releases of games in Apple's "Apple Arcade" service. I fixate on the new games that are released, and craft reviews of them in my head. I imagine myself as different personalities I have seen on YouTube, and create a fictional podcast surrounding my observations about each game.

 

[outatime_85]

I don't know if I have autism (I was never diagnosed in my youth), but I'm fascinated with vehicle plates and trying to remember them, and I'm not sure why.

 

[sadandhopeless1]

There's a lot of things but a big one is pepper plants. There are over 20 species of peppers with only 5 of them being commercially grown and cultivated (the others grow wild and are occasionally eaten). Within each of the 5 species there are hundreds of different varieties. The most commonly seen species in the US is capsicum annum. This includes bell peppers, poblanos, jalapenos, etc. They vary in heat and flavor quite a bit, and in my opinion are one of the less exciting varieties. The species capsicum baccatum is my favorite. The latin name means berry-like because the peppers are often sweet and very fruity and perfumey flavored. They tolerate the cold pretty well and are insanely productive which is great because I live in the north. They are basically unheard of in the US which also adds a certain coolness to them for me. Probably the most unique of the 5 is capsicum pubescens. Pubescens basically means hairy, and its named this because the leaves and stems are covered in little hairs making it look fuzzy. It also differs from other peppers by having jet black seeds which I think are fascinating. I don't know what about peppers makes me get so excited, but they do. I think its the insane diversity in the shapes of the fruit, the flavor, and the heat level. If you are interested in seeing some cool varieties you should go to the Baker Creek Heirloom website. They have a ton of pepper seeds for sale with pictures as well as so many varieties of every veggie you could imagine. I have spent hours and hours looking through that website, I love it so much. Thanks for letting me infodump lol

 

[Grav]

I've been diagnosed "on the spectrum" but don't really feel it's anything. I've always had a desire for details and why something is, which can lead to some rabbit holes. Nothing weird or exceptional. Most of my interest falls in history but most things that catch my interest become something I start trying to collect a lot of information on how to do them or how they are. Examples: naval warfare, fishing, bbq. It's nothing in the "odd" range where I"m up all night reading stuff but more of a desire how something works. I'm pretty detailed and get anxious when details are missing.